Do you find yourself leaning forward too much during squats or unable to go heavier with deadlifts? Or do you suffer from ongoing neck and shoulder pain? These could all be signs that you lack good upper-back mobility, a common problem for anyone who works at a computer. If your weightlifting warm up amounts to doing a few light sets before your working set, you could be missing out on improved performance, mobility, and injury prevention. But a quick, full {Read More…}

The fitness industry has plenty of science to back up its recommendations, but there are still “to infinity and beyond” ways to get results. That’s one thing that makes weightlifting great fun, but it also means there are a lot of voices – some very authoritative – that you should lift weights this way or that. I’ve even heard a few internet gurus say you should not spend a lot of time lifting weights. Instead, you should spend your time doing things that are fulfilling, like throwing the {Read More…}

If we’ve connected on Twitter or Facebook you may have heard me talk recently about attending a workshop through the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM). I’m studying to be a certified personal trainer and fully acknowledge that I’m also turning into a certified Fitness Know-It-All. My family, who I was visiting during the class, can attest to this as I put them through fitness assessments and evaluated them relentlessly while there. In any case, I get such insane satisfaction {Read More…}

How balanced are you? I confronted this question last week when I took a cross-country skiing lesson. While learning the kick and glide technique, which requires you to balance on one foot while moving fairly fast, it became apparent that you need a good amount of balance for this sport. On one hand, I was impressed that I had any balance at all; on the other hand, I decided I can use even more. Not only is stabilization needed for {Read More…}

Today I’m totally at peace with my world. My quest for defined abs has less importance – is this due to more solid self-acceptance? Although clean eating, exercise, and water consumption help stave off water retention, it’s still difficult to see your abs unless you have less than 14% body fat (according to Oxygen magazine). For myself, I would look like a skeleton at this body fat level; I’m just not willing to do it. So the question becomes: Is it {Read More…}